Pewter ID

[lunicy]

When going to yardsales, and flea markets, how can you ID pewter for sure. I know it looks kinda like lead, but thats all I really know about it. (other than it's mostly tin and would go into my melt pot nicely)

Thanks

[fryboy]

no ... it doesnt really look like lead but in thin form it is often bendable like lead , of course the pure-er stuff may have the tin "cry" when bent , the very best i could say would be until one learns how it feels is to stick to marked stuff and always check the price before test bending it to make sure you can afford it , i've seen tea sets that werent worth $20 that they thought was worth $2000 - that goes for individual pieces as well , in fact i know a lil shop that has a bunch but everything is priced as if it's made of solid gold and the research i done on the pieces indicate that the true value isnt even one fourth of their asking price , try typing pewter in the search function , there's been lots of past discussion about this and those threads should offer lots more tips

[cajun shooter]

Real pewter for the most part will say that on the bottom of the piece if of recent manufacture. It is still being made in Pa. in one or two places. My wife has family there and she collects pewter which I can not touch. I buy my tin in bars.